Knitting-machine.



No. 753,715. PATENTED MAR. 1,-1904.

I. w. LAMB. KNITTING MACHINE.

No MODEL 7 APPLIOATION PILEDQHAR. 21, 1902. I 4 BHEETSI BHEET 1-Wyn/50,93:

INVENTO/i lmaamam/Z 3 in: nonms PETERS ccI. FHOTOJJTHON wnsumomu. n. c.

No. 753,715. PATENTED MAR. l, 1904.

I. W. LAMB.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21, 1902.

H0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

/N VENTOH Imam .ZQWZZ A EYS WITNESSES PATENTED MAR. 1, 1904.

1. w. LAMB. I KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21, 1902;

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

QLW/TNESSES //V VE N 70/? [Jada ".llamb Patented March '1, 1904.

UNITED STATES JPATENTIOFFI-CE.

ISAAC W. LAMB, OF PERRY, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE PERRY GLOVE ANDMITTEN COMPANY,

OF PERRY, MICHIGAN.

KNlTTING-rNIACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 753,715, dated March 1,1904. Application filed March 21, 1902. Serial No. 99,253. N mfldeL) Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC WIXOM LAMB, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Perry, in the county of Shiawassee and State ofMichigan, have invented a new and Im proved Knitting-Machine, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description. The inventionrelates to knitting-machines of the Lamb type for two straight rows ofneedles arranged on opposite sides of the machine and between which rowsof needles the work passes, as shown, for instance, in the LettersPatent of the United States N o. 611,13Q, granted to me September 28,1898, and No. 611,862, granted to me October 4, 1898.

The object of the invention is to provide av new and improved knitting-machine more especially designed for producing ,mittens, sweaters, andother garments having main and auxiliary parts, the arrangement beingsuch that the needles or any portion'thereof can be rendered inoperativeor dormant with out removing the loops from such dormant needles toallow of knitting a glove, for instance, in such a manner that after thehand or wrist portion is knit the work can be run off of any portion ofthe needles desired, or it can be retained on any desired portion of theneedles, while the knitting is continued with another portion of theneedles, to form the separate fingers- The invention consists of novelfeatures and parts and combinations of the same, as will be More fullydescribed hereinafter and then pointed outin the claims.

Apractical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in alltheviews.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvement. Fig. 2 is is a planview of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section of the sameon the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged inner face view of thecams for the needles and needle-lifters on the rear needleplate. Fig. 5is a like view of the cams for the needles on the front needle-plate.Fig. 6 is a plan view of the needle-plates shown disposed in ahorizontal plane, the needles, needle-lifters, and the cams forworkingthe needles and needle-lifters being also shown in position; and Fig. 7is. a cross-section of part of the machine, showing the fabric and aloop retained on one of the needles on each side.

The improved knitting-machine is mounted on a main frame A, supporting agib-frame B, on which reciprocates acarriage 0, connected by a pitman Dwith the crank-disk D, sescured on the transverse shaft E,adapted eitherto be turned by hand or connected with suitable machinery for impartinga rotary motion to the said shaftE to cause the crank-disk D and pitmanD to impart a reciprocating mo- ,tion to the carriage C on the gib-frameB.

Ofthe two needle-plates F and F the front needle-plate F is fitted toslide longitudinally in suitable bearings on the frame A at the front ofthe machine, and the said needle-plate F is adapted to be held eitherstationary or to receive an intermittent sliding motion, according tothe work in hand, by means of a needleplate-shifting device actuatedfrom the main shaft. The other or rear needle-plate F is rigidly securedto the frame A.

The detail construction of the parts so far referred to is the same asthe one shown and described in the Letters Patent of the United Statesabove referred to, so that it is not" deemed necessary to describe theparts in detai The needle-plates F F are provided with suitableguideways or grooves F F for the sets of needles G G to slide in, andthe guideways F terminate in somewhat deeper'guideways or grooves F, inwhich are mounted the needle-lifters H for moving the needles Gupwardly, as hereinafter more fully described.

The needles G on the front needle-plate F have nibs G adapted to beengaged both for the upward and downward movement of the needles by aset of cams I, 1, 1 and I (see Fig. 5,) held on the front under side'ofthe carriage C, and the needles G on the rear needle-plate F' areprovidedwith nibs G movement of the needles G by the cams J J",

(see Fig. 4,) the entire upward movement of 4 the said needles G beingaccomplished by the use of the needle-lifters H, having nibs H, adaptedto be engaged by a cam K, secured with the cams J J to the rear underside of the carriage C. The cams I I are the usual side cams, while thecam I is the middle or cardigan cam, having a movable section I forgiving a full or only a partial stroke to the needles G for producing agreat variety of Work, as more fully described in the Letters Patent ofthe United States No. 611,862, above referred to.

The movable section I is formed in its apex with a V-shaped recess Iadapted to engage the correspondingly-shaped top cam I at the time thesection I is moved into a closed position. The top cam thus holds themovable section against accidental movement. The top cam I serves todraw dormant retainingneedles back into a correct working position afterthey have been partly pushed downward from an uppermost position by theoperator.

' It is understood that the auxiliary top cam carries a needle down intothe working cam after a needle has been started, say, about onequarterof an inch by hand.

. The notch I in the cardigan-cam section I is provided in order thatthe cardigan-cam section may be moved upward against the side cams andleave no space between the side cams and the cardigan-cam. Without thisnotch in the cardigan-cam section the latter is liable to strike the topauxiliary cam I before the space between the cardigan-cam section andthe side cams would be closed.

The needle-lifter cam K and the needle-cams J J are arranged relative tothe nibs H and G in such a manner that when the nib H is engaged by aside of the cam K then the nibs G of the corresponding needles G aremoved upward along the inner side of the cam J or J to properly give anupward movement of the needles G by the action of the needlelifter H.(See Fig. 6.) The needle-liftersH (see right-hand side of Fig. 3) areeach provided with an arm H extending upwardly from the nib H to reachunder the lower end of the corresponding needles G to insure a properretention of the needle-lifters in their grooves F by the needles G,acting as gibs or retainers to hold the lifters in their grooves.

Now when the machine is in operation and all the needles G and G are inworking position, then the reciprocation of the carriage C causes thecam devices on both sides of the carriage to actuate all the needles inthe regular order-that is, the cams I and I impart both an upward anddownward movement to the needles G, while the cams J and J impart adownward movement to the needles G, and the needle-lifters H, acuated bythe cam K, impart the full upstroke to the said needles G.

When it is desired to run 011? some of the work,

then the corresponding needles G are moved by the operator into adownward inactive or dormant position, and the needle-lifters H for thecorresponding needles G are moved into a lowermost position, so thatsaid needles G and G are not actuated and remain dormant during thereciprocation of the carriage C. The nibs H are then below the lower endof the cam K, and when it is desired to use any desired number ofneedles G and G as retaining-needles for retaining the work While theknitting is continued with the remaining working needles in activeposition, the operator pushes such retaining-needles G upward into anextreme uppermost position so that the nibs G are above the cam I andthe needle-lifters H for the corresponding retainingneedles G are movedinto a lowermost position, so that both sets of retaining-needles G andG remain dormant, with the retainingneedles G in an extreme uppermostposition and the retaining-needles G in their normal resting position.On pushing a needle Ginto an extreme uppermost position its loop engagesthe needle-shank and reaches over near to the corresponding dormantretaining-needle G as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 7.The retaining-needles G remain dormant in their resting position, astheir needle-lifters H are out of action, and the cams J J only act onthe needles G when they are in an upper position to push the needlesdown from the uppermost or knitting position to the position of rest.The latchopener L for the needles G is extended at its upper end, sothat the needles G, which form retaining-needles and are pushed up intoan extreme uppermost position, are not disturbed by the latch-opener Lduring the reciprocation of the carriage C. The latch-opener L for theneedles G is of the usual construction.

In order to stop the needles G when moved downward by the operator intoan inactive position at the time it is desired to run off some of thework, I provide abar N, slidable lengthwise on the needle-plate F (seeFig. 3) over the needle-shanks, the said bar forming a stop for the nibsG A like stop-bar N is provided in the upper portion of the needleplateF for the nibs G to abut against when the needles G are moved into anextreme uppermost position by the operator to hold the loops inposition. Three stop-bars N, N, and N are arranged to slide lengthwiseon the needle-plate F, the stop-bar N serving as a stop for the nibs Gat the time the needles G are moved into an uppermost position by theneedle-lifters H, the stop-bar N limiting the downward movement of thenibs G and needles G, while the stop-bar N serves to limit thedownward-sliding movement of the needle-lifters H when the latter aremoved downward by the operator for the purpose above dedescribed. Thebar N also holds one end of the needle-lifters down in its groove.

For producing fancy-work the front neeneedles Gr.

dle-plate F is intermittently reciprocated by the same mechanism as theone described in the Letters Patent of the United States No. 611,862,above referred to, so that further description thereof is not deemednecessary.

The thread-carrier O is of the ordinary construction and extends betweenthe latchopeners L and L, as indicated in the drawings. The meansforregulating the length of the stitches is also of the usual construction,so that further description thereof is not deemed necessary.

It is understood that when the needles G are moved up by the operatorinto an extreme uppermost position then the loops carried by saidneedles open the latches thereof and the needle shanks freely slide upthrough the loops, so that the latter remain in position without beingunduly strained. (See Fig. 7.) When it is again desired to bring theseneedles and their loops into an active'position, then the operatorpushes these needles G back a short distance, so that the nibs G areacted on by the cam I to draw the needles farther down into an activeposition. The loops on the retaining-needles G naturally lie abouthalf-way between the two rows of needlelifters, so that the distancefrom the hook of a back-retaining needle. G to the loop on the shank ofa front-retaining needle G is comparatively short, and there isconsequently no strain on either front or back loops by the passage ofthe cams over the back-retaining It is further understood that fornarrowing the work the corresponding needles G and G are pushed downwardby the operator until the nibs G abut against the stop-bar N and thenibs G abut against the stop-bar N so that the nibs G pass between thecams J, J and K without being touched by either on the reciprocation ofthe carriage. The needle lifters for the needles G thus pushed down arelikewise pushed down by the downward movement of their needles untilthey abut against the stop-bar N and their nibs are below the bottomedge of the cam K.

. As shown in Fig. 6, some of the extreme right-hand needles and some ofthe extreme left-hand needles G G are shown down or dormant fornarrowing the work, and some of the needles G next to the extremeleft-hand needles are shown in an extreme uppermost dormant position,but retaining their loops, with the corresponding opposite needles Gleft dormant in resting position by their corresponding needle-liftersH, drawn into a lowermost position.

In using the machine for knitting a glove, for instance, the wrist andhand .portion is knitted with the necessary number of needles G G, andthen a portion of the work is run off of the corresponding needles, andanother portion of the work is retained on corresponding needles, whilethe knitting is continued with the remaining working needles. .The

best economy is obtained by knitting first the wrist, then the hand,then throwing the work off the needles between the forefinger and thelittle finger, then knitting the forefinger while the work for thelittle finger is retained on the corresponding needles, then knittingthe little finger, and, fin ally, removing the work from the machine.The middle fingers are then knit on'a separate machine made expresslyfor that purpose. If the work is begun at the finger end, then onefinger can be knit and the needles for such finger put out of workingposition. Then the next finger can be knit and the corresponding needlesput out of working position, and this operation is repeated until allthe fingers of the glove are knit without necessitating removal of anypart of the work from the machine. The hand and wrist portions arefinally knit, so that the entire glove is knit in one piece.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. A knitting machine having a needleplate, needlesmovable thereon, a set of cams for imparting movement to the needles atthe time the latter are in working position, one of the camshaving amovable apex-section provided with a recess, in the apex, and a fixedauxiliary cam for moving the needles into the working position, theauxiliary cambeing adaptedto be engaged by the recess in the apex ofsaid movable section, when the latteris raised to its highest position,as set forth.

2. A knitting-machine having a set of cams for actuating the needles onthe needle-plate, the cams comprising side cams, a V-caIn betweentheside cams and having a movable apexsection provided with a recess inapex, and a fixed top cam adapted to be engaged by the recess of thesaid movable section, as set forth.

3. A knitting-machine having a needle-plate formed with needle-groovesand needle-lifter grooves, the latter being in alinement with theneedle-grooves and deeper than the latter, needles mounted toslide inthe said needlegrooves, means for sliding the needles'downward in theirgrooves, needle-lifters mounted IIO to slide in the needle-liftergrooves, means for sliding the needle lifters upward in their grooves,such needle-lifters being always in line with the needles and inposition to be slid upward, and adapted when slid upward to abut againstthe rear ends of the said needles to slide the needles upward whilehaving no positive attachment to the needles, as set forth.

4. A knitting-machine, having a needle-plate formed with needle-groovesand needle-lifter grooves, the latter being in alinement with theneedle-grooves and deeper than the latter, the needle-lifter groovesbeing of the same depth from end to end, needles mounted to slide in thesaid needle-grooves, means for sliding the needles downward in theirgrooves, needlelifters mounted to slide in the needle-lifter grooves,means for sliding the needle-lifters upward, in their grooves, suchneedle-lifters being always in line with the needles and in position tofreely slide upward, and adapted when slid upward to abut against therear ends of the said needles to slide the needles upward,

while having no positive attachment to the needles, the needle-liftershaving extensions reaching under the needles so that the latter willretain the upper ends of the needle-lifters in their grooves, as setforth.

5. A knitting-machine having a set of needles for each side of themachine, cams for directly engaging the needles on one side of themachine to move the needles in this set both up and down, the saidneedles being adapted to be moved upward out of the path of the cams torender the needles inoperative while retaining their loops on the bodyof such needles, means for limiting the movement of said needles,needle-lifters for the other set of needles to move the latter in theupward direction, a cam for actuating the needle-lifters, cams formoving the said second set of needles in the opposite direction, theneedle-lifters being adapted to be moved downward out of the path of theactuating-cam to render such needle-lifters and their needles dormant,while the needles retain their loops on their hooks, and means forlimiting the movement of the needle-lifters, as set forth.

6. A knitting-machine having a set of needles for each side of themachine, means for directly engaging the needles on one side of themachine to move the needles in this set both up and down, stop-bars forlimiting the movement of the said needles, needle-lifters for the otherset of needles to move the latter in one direction only, the saidneedle-lifters being mounted to slide, means for actuating theneedle-lifters, means for moving the second set of needles in theopposite direction, the needle-lifters being adapted to move out of thepath of their actuating means, a stop-bar for the second set of needleswhen moved into an uppermost position, a stop-bar for limiting thedownward movement of said needles, and a third stop-bar for limiting thedownward sliding movement of the needle-lifters, the latter bar servingto hold one end of the needlelifters in position, as set forth.

7 A knitting-machine having a needleplate, needles movable thereon, aset of cams for imparting movement to the needles at the time the latterare in working position, the cams comprising side cams, a V-cam betweenthe side cams and having a movable apex-section provided with arecess inthe apex, afixed top cam in line with the said movable section andadapted to be engaged by the recess of the said movable section, andstop-bars for limiting the movement of the needles, as set forth.

8. A knitting-machine, having a set of needles for each side of themachine, means for directly engaging the needles on one side of themachine to move the needles in this set both up and down, the needles ofthis set being adapted to be moved upward out of the path of theoperating means, whereby any of said needles may be rendered inoperativewhileretaining the loops on the body of the needles, needle-lifters forthe other set of needles to move the latter in the upward direction,means for actuating the said needle-lifters, andmeans for moving thesaid second set of needles in the opposite direction, the needle-liftersbeing adapted to be moved downward out of the path of the actuatingmeans, whereby any desired number of said needle-lifters and theircorresponding needles can be rendered dormant, the said needles when inthe dormant position retaining their loops on the hooks of the needles,as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ISAAC W. LAMB.

Witnesses:

L. A. SPALDING, FRANCIS M. FRY.

